The Orlando Magic beat the Denver Nuggets on the road Tuesday night, 85-74, for their sixth win in their last seven games.
The win snapped a six game losing streak in Denver, where the Magic hadn’t won a game since January 17, 2009, the same season they reached the NBA Finals.
Still, it wasn’t pretty. The Magic finished the game with 6% on three-point attempts, missing their first 15 tries until Evan Fournier made the 16th with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. They were down at halftime 40-47. But they came out of the locker room with new intensity and defense saved the day again: The Magic held the Nuggets to 24 percent shooting and outscored them 45-27 in the second half. Fournier says it was the talk in the locker room at halftime that galvanized the Magic to win.
Three Magic starters scored in the double digits: Tobias Harris put in 17 points, while Nikola Vučević and Elfrid Payton added 18 each. Andrew Nicholson came off the bench to lead all players with 14 rebounds. The Nuggets’ Will Barton came off the bench to lead all scorers with 23 points. No Nuggets starter had more than 15.
The Nuggets finished the game shooting 33 percent on field goals, 29 percent on three-pointers and an abysmal 55 percent on free throws. Magic coach Scott Skiles credits this to his team’s improved defense in the second half.
The Magic, who improved to 12-9 after the win, have had many hard games this season. They have a point differential of 2.5 and have won their games by an average of 9 points. But Vučević believes these hard wins speak to the character of his team and can only help them grow.